Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Goodland, KS

June 23, 1987Lincoln County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 23, 1987, 8:16 PM MDT for Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 34 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jun 23, 1987, 8:16 PM MDT (02:16 UTC)
Expired
Jun 23, 1987, 8:50 PM MDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Lincoln County, CO

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 23, 8:31 PM MDTHail 1Lincoln, CO
Jun 23, 9:00 PM MDTHail 1.75Lincoln, CO

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 101 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1987-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 815 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1987-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
815 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-101 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1600 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KCOS 240216
TORCOS
COC073-240250-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLORADO SPRINGS CO
816 PM MDT TUE JUN 23 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 850 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...
 NORTHERN LINCOLN

A POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC OVER THE TOWN
OF HUGO IN NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY.

IN HOMES GO TO THE BASEMENT OR INTO A CLOSET OR BATHROOM.  IN SCHOOLS
...HIGH RISES AND HOSPITALS GO TO AN INTERIOR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GO TO A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.  IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN
THE NEAREST DITCH...GULLY OR OTHER LOW SPOT.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

 CROWLEY

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 23, 8:01 PM MDT, 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
800 PM CDT TUE JUN 23 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EXTRME WESTERN
KANSAS UNTIL 1 AM MDT...

AT 8 PM MDT NO SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS INDICATED BY
RADAR OR REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC OVER WESTERN KANSAS.  HOWEVER..
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS..SOME VERY INTENSE WERE OVER EASTERN
COLORADO IN AN 80 MILD WIDE AREA EXTENDING FROM STERLING TO LA JUNTA.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO
WESTERN KANSAS WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

FREIBURGER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 6:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDElbert66 min
Jun 23, 6:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso56 min
Jun 23, 7:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDElbert, Lincoln68 min
Jun 23, 7:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso68 min
Jun 23, 7:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson51 min
Jun 23, 8:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson56 min
Jun 24, 3:42 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDElbert, Lincoln33 min
Jun 24, 3:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson62 min
Jun 24, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso60 min
Jun 24, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDElbert60 min
Jun 24, 4:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso, Lincoln76 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.